python2.3 Redhat9 rpm Safe?

[Sean Reifschneider]

On Tue, Oct 07, 2003 at 11:02:26AM -0400, Neal Becker wrote:
>Is it safe to install python2.3 rpms on Redhat9?

According to the FAQ on the Python 2.3 RPMs page at:

   http://python.org/2.3.2/rpms.html

Q) Is it safe to install these RPMs on a Red Hat system? Will they
over-write the system python and cause problems with other Red Hat
applications that expect a different version of Python?

A) The RPMs that start with "python2.3" are built to not interfere with the
system Python. They install as "/usr/bin/python2.3" and will not
conflict with the system Python unless you are running on a system that
ships the a version of Python which has the same major/minor number.

To invoke the interpreter with these packages, you will explicitly have
to run "python2.3". Note that all Python RPMs provided by Python.org and
Red Hat provide a "/usr/bin/python2.3" (or similar, with major/minor
number), even if they also provide "/usr/bin/python". So, yes, it should
be safe.

Note that you may need to build and install a second copy of any
packages which you need access to with the supplemental version of
Python. You can build packages of these files for the Python 2.3
interpreters for packages which use Distutils, by using the command
"python2.3 setup.py bdist_rpm".

Sean
-- 
 Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves
 on a rainy Sunday afternoon.                -- Heinlein
Sean Reifschneider, Member of Technical Staff <jafo at tummy.com>
tummy.com, ltd. - Linux Consulting since 1995.  Qmail, Python, SysAdmin